Page 132 of Wolf Roulette

“Just… brush them. It’s best not to know some things.”

I swallowed hard, trying not to think of dangling rabbit guts.

He took my hand when we reached the narrow beach. “They had a great time.”

“I’m glad. Booker was looking forward to it. She got herself all done up.”

Sascha grinned, and my breath caught as the sun caught his honey eyes, making them appear nearly yellow.

So fucking handsome.

We found my bag and after dressing and brushing critter innards from my teeth, I split my food with Sascha.

Last time, I made the mistake of only bringing granola bags.

I gnawed on my fourth barbeque chicken drumstick, staring out at the glassy lake.

“You’re deep in thought for a wolf after the new moon.” He was lying on the forest floor and using one arm as a cushion—dressed in loose, grey trackpants too, which should be illegal on guys, full stop.

“I feel good,” I murmured.

“I’m asking what’s on your mind, mate.”

Oh.“Grid stuff. Us stuff. Nothing different to the usual.”

“I was wondering about Andie stuff yesterday.”

“About her hot bod?”

His amusement curled around me. “That’s a given. I found myself wondering why you experienced no heat after the kiss meet and the strongest heat yet after the bite meet.”

Yeah,that had niggled at me. “Any ideas?”

“In the past, our mating gifts—and your partial heats—always seemed to come when you accepted my presence in your life more.”

I’d first felt the elastic band sensation at the waterfall when Sascha told me about his dreams. “Fair point, but I’d accepted you more than ever at our kiss meet.”

Sascha took a deep breath. “Maybe so, but you weren’t happy on pack lands, Andie. We received the ability to mind-speak in this form as soon as you returned to the tribe. You were farther from me, and that made you more accepting of our situation.”

His words filled the space between us.

Because he was absolutely right—and wrong at the same time.

“I wasn’t happy on pack lands as things were,” I eventually answered. “I felt closer to you but believed less in our future. That made me close up.”

He gazed up at the brightening sky. “You weren’t the only one. I was disappointed and it clouded my judgement. I closed up too.”

Give me a guy with the ability to reasonanyday. I was deluded to believe alphas were my type. “When I went back to the manor, it felt like I was in a position toclaimour future instead of watching everything unravel. I wasn’t happier because we were farther apart. That felt—and will always feel—horrible.”

Sascha closed his eyes. “Thank fuck for that. I miss you so much.”

My throat tightened. “I miss you too.”

“Will you ever be back?” Pain infused his words.

And my heart.“I believe there’s no future for us unless a compromise can be reached between the pack and tribe. I can’t leave my stewards in the lurch, and maybe doing the right thing by the pack was due to my feelings for you initially, but now, I care about them as well. We need to find a middle ground, Sascha.”

He still disagreed.

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